Mine
A mine is a small explosive device used as a fortification. There are two types of mines typical of the WWII battlefield: anti-personnel and anti-tank. Typically a number of mines would be buried in an area, called a minefield. Minefield Types In CMBN, there are three kinds of minefields: anti-personnel (AP), anti-tank (AT), and mixed (which has both types of mines). Each minefield fully occupies the action spot it is in. Anti-tank mines cannot be set off by infantry, but anti-personnel mines can be set off by vehicles. All three kinds of minefields are depicted on the battlefield view in the same manner. For active, non-marked fields, this is a red sign with a skull and crossbones, saying "Danger Mines". Minefield State Each minefield has the following data that pertain to it: * Its location: the action spot it is in. * Its owner (American or German). As with all fortifications, the owner always knows the location of the minefield, and sometimes the owner can move the minefield in setup. The non-owning player typically starts out ignorant of the location of the minefield. * Its "markedness", a boolean variable that is true only if engineers (from either side) have marked the minefield during play, using the mark mines move command. * Its "strength": the quantity of mines of one or both types it has left. Here are the setup strength levels of the three kinds of minefields, in the two kinds of mine. All amounts are approximations based on in-game testing: AP AT antipersonnel 14 - antitank - 2-3 mixed 10 1-2 Note that in Combat Mission, the location of mines within a minefield is abstracted. In real life, infantry would traverse a known or suspected minefield in single file; thus the chance to hit a mine for the men following the leader was very low. Similarly, driving a tank across a minefield would result in a cleared path that could be followed by infantry. In CMBN, neither of these tactics work. Marked Minefields Engineers can mark known minefields using the Mark Mines move command. A marked minefield has its sign changed to off-white; see the screenshot. All kinds of minefields may be marked. Marking a minefield does not affect its strength. It does substantially reduce the chance of triggering a mine for infantry traversing the minefield. Marking appears to have no effect on the chance of a vehicle triggering a mine. Thus, although antitank minefields can be marked, marking them appears to have no effect, since infantry can traverse them without risk in any case and vehicles don't benefit from marking. Neutralized Minefields A minefield that has no mines left (of either kind, for a mixed field) is neutralized, and has no effect in the game. (It can still affect your decisions if you don't notice its neutralization, which is not that obvious.) A known neutralized mine field is denoted by a green sign with a white X on it; see the screenshot. Minefields can be neutralized by heavy artillery (150mm+), if it scores a direct hit. Minefields can be neutralized by a blast from a demo charge, although due to the game's limitations, a blast can only be performed if there is some blastable obstacle (such as wire) in the action spot. A minefield can also be neutralized if enough of its mines are detonated by units moving over the action spot. Discovering Mines Mines are always known to their owner. The other player may discover them during play. Generally minefields are revealed only when one of their mines explodes. However, they can occasionally be discovered without losses by infantry moving through them (that is, moving into or out of the minefield's action spot). This is more likely when the infantry: * are crawling or walking (and to a lesser extent, hunting) * are engineers * are experienced * The minefield has already been discovered by another unit (e.g. by setting off a mine) info came from the manual -- not sure if it means anything For infantry, the chance of triggering a mine when traversing an action spot varies with the same factors mentioned above. However, the strongest factor seems to be the minefield strength -- infantry can move Quick across a field with only a few mines left. However, in full-strength minefields or those having only detonated a few mines, the chance of triggering a mine is quite high except for engineers. Even experienced infantry crawling will trigger a mine in an action spot more often than not. Mine Effects Minefields have no effect on the game other than via mine explosions. AP Mines Anti-personnel mines always kill or incapacitate at least one man among an infantry unit which triggers them. If men are sufficiently bunched up, they can eliminate or wound any number of men. All nearby units will be suppressed. Anti-personnel mines do not strongly affect vehicles. Each explosion damages the vehicle's Tracks or Wheels; no other system on any vehicle is affected. Vehicles have varying levels of damage that their tracks/wheels can withstand before they are immobilized, ranging from only a handful of hits (3-4 for jeeps) up to many (roughly 22 to immobilize a Sherman). The crew of soft vehicles can be hurt by mine explosions, although this is rare except for the smallest (jeeps). Crew of armored vehicles cannot be hurt by mines. All crew will be suppressed by mine explosions, and all will button up if they can after any mine hit. Passengers in trucks and armored vehicles seem to be immune to AP mine hits; even in jeeps injuries are rare. AT Mines Anti-tank mines cannot be triggered by infantry. However, their explosions are quite large and do affect nearby infantry. The effect is comparable to a 150mm HE shell exploding. Anti-tank mine blasts always immobilize the vehicle that triggers them. Tanks and their crews are otherwise unaffected, except for suppression. Armored cars and halftracks can be destroyed, and their crews occasionally take injuries. Soft vehicles are destroyed and usually burn; crews seem to always be killed. Passengers in soft vehicles take heavy casualties -- 75% or more will be killed. Category:Concepts Category:Rules